Red Teapot, Northbridge

Its walls and logos are red.  The Chinese are famous for the origin of and their enjoyment tea.  Combined, we get Red Teapot - a Chinese restaurant the owners suitably named that is popular most nights of the week.

Situated on the quieter Northern end of William Street in Northbridge, Red Teapot is a typical sized Chinese eatery in Northbridge that specialises in Cantonese food.  Seating can be a little cramped to fit in about 30 people, and given its popularity I would suggest reserving a table ahead.

The menu at Red Teapot is quite extensive for the size of the restaurant, with many Chinese Cantonese dishes on offer from meat, seafood, vegetarian, as well as entrees and soups, all cooked in a variety of methods and sauces giving much choice for your meal.  However, like most Chinese restaurants, many of the dishes are best shared with people so you can have and share a variety of dishes.

Service is pretty typical of Chinese restaurants, but I found the level of English to be good and some of the staff in particular are very friendly and helpful, even when they are full house.

Honey and pepper pork rib  $13.90

I find when I see this on the menu there is something that tends to draw me to it.  Perhaps it’s the non-fat-trimmed pork that is battered and deep fried?  Sounds bad, but it tastes good if you like that sort of thing.

Though deep fried in batter, the pork rib didn’t appear to have been heavily battered - and thus didn’t seem excessively oily considering it was battered and deep fried.  The pork ribs were subsequently stir fried with onion and champignon mushrooms in a sweet honey and peppery sauce.  Whilst the overall taste was quite mild as opposed to overpowering in sauce flavours, the thick sauce did make every piece strong in the honey and pepper flavour.

Prosperous fragrant chicken - $17.90

This popular and recommended dish consists of half a deep fried chicken served with a vinegary sweet sauce that had added garlic, spring onion, and chilli.

The chicken was fried just enough to cook it through without getting too dry, and the skin was still lightly crispy.  The sauce added a savoury tangy flavour to the chicken that wasn't heavy, but definitely flavoursome.

Fried fish in chilli soy sauce  $17.90

Yet another deep fried dish, the fish was also battered and deep fried then served on a plate that had a decent layer of chilli soy sauce.  The sauce was only mild in chilli taste, and tasted like a toned-down-in-salt-soy-sauce based but still amply flavoured chilli soy sauce.  The fish was pretty standard battered and deep fried fish, but dipping it into the sauce made the batter get a bit soggy but also added additional taste to the otherwise relatively plain fried fish.  Personally, I quite enjoyed the combination of the deep fried fish with the mild flavours of the chilli soy sauce.

Mixed vegetables and tofu claypot - $12.90

Sometimes with these meals, you feel compelled to order a dish that is largely if not exclusively vegetables.  I suppose it sometimes makes me feel better that I’m getting some greens.

This particular vegetarian dish contained a mixture of tofu with mushrooms, carrots, Chinese green vegetables, and baby corn cooked in a light garlicky sauce that added large amounts of flavour to what would otherwise be a bland dish.  As a vegetarian dish this was cooked till the vegetables were soft but not overcooked, but I felt like it had a fair bit of oil for my liking – somewhat taking off the edge for me for what should be a “healthier” dish.

The tofu and vegetables were also presented and served in a metal “claypot”.

Chicken and mushroom claypot - $14.90

Served in another metal “claypot” dish, the chicken claypot consisted of bite size pieces of boneless chicken, Chinese sausage, sliced Chinese shiitake and other mushrooms, decoratively cut carrots, baby corn, onion, ginger, spring onions, and finely chopped garlic.

Cooked in the claypot, the savoury sauce had a hint of sweetness and garlic flavour.  Thanks to the sauce, this was a very tasty dish though perhaps a tad salty for my liking.  The skinless chicken pieces were tender and not dry, and the whole dish seemed to have flavour from the cooking technique infusing the sauce evenly throughout.

Squid tentacles with chilli and garlic - $10.90

Squid tentacles fried and tossed into chilli and garlic (and salt).  Need I say more?

Green apple iced tea  $3.50

Red Teapot offers a few “flavoured” drinks.  This particular drink had a sweet green apple taste that is common in syrup made drinks (which includes bubble tea).  However, I found this drink was not heavy on the sugar syrup, which to me was good.

In summary, Red Teapot sits well above your local run-down Chinese restaurant in terms of Chinese cuisine and offers a mix of your typical Chinese dishes as well as some more traditional Cantonese food.

Points to note:  Dine in or takeaway, if you want to ensure you get a seat on any night, you’re best off making a reservation.  BYO and cash only.  There is also 10% off all takeaway orders, as well as early birds who finish dinner before 7pm

Go for:  Good Chinese food - with all your usuals plus more.



Red Teapot
413 William Street
NORTHBRIDGE WA 6003
(08) 9228 1981

Trading Hours
Monday to Saturday - Lunch and Dinner

Get Fresh! (The Aussie Bite photos in The West Australian Newspaper)

If you're like me, you enjoy eating, talking, and reading about food.  Reading books, like my recently acquired Peter Gilmore's Quay, as well as reading articles, reviews and blogs filled with inviting pictures whets my tastebuds.

Every Thursday, the West Australian Newspaper brings us the Fresh liftout which is dedicated to food.  In the liftout, you can find food reviews, recipes, and photos of all of the above.  Personally, I find some of the articles inspire me to try out new things, or else make me hungry looking at delicious photos of food...  For better or worse.

The Fresh liftout from a few of weeks ago was a special "Perth's Best" edition.  This edition was filled with articles outlining the "best" of Perth such as best overall restaurants, degustation restaurants, low-key Japanese, late-night eats, degustation, coffee-cake places, and WA wines under $25.  I enjoyed this great unique edition that showcased a lot of highlights from good ol' Perth that you could keep as a reference.  As expected, the "Perth Best" edition also contained a lot of mouthwatering photos, and I was lucky enough to have a couple of images from this blog printed as part of its "Low-Key Japanese" article.

All this talk of food is making me hungry.  Time to eat some food.

In the meantime, if you're like me and enjoy reading up on food and restaurants and looking at some nice photos to go with it, you might like to grab a copy of Fresh in Thursday's West for a bit of a squiz.

Fresh Excerpt, 18 November 2010 - Courtesy of West Australian Newspapers

Took Bae Kee Restaurant, Perth

If you ask a Korean who has spent a bit of time in Perth, chances are that Took Bae Kee will be on their list of Korean restaurants they recommend.  Situated on the east side of Perth near some other Korean establishments (next to a small Korean grocer and across from a haircut joint), this statement is even more true when you go inside.

Took Bae Kee is a casual restaurant that can get quite busy given it's quite small inside.  The decor is simple, but it's relatively clean and cosy for an eat-and-go Asian food establishment.  Service-wise, the wait staff seem to all be Korean and provide a decent service for the casual restaurant environment.

The menu contains a variety of Korean dishes from soups, to meat dishes, to rice dishes, and vegetarian dishes written in Korean and translated in English.  Prices vary mainly from around $10-15 for most main meal dishes.  Given Koreans can eat spicy, you might need to consider whether the dishes are edible for those with weaker stomachs – I know I struggle with very spicy food.

Bulgogi Bibimbap - $13

Bibimbap means mixed rice, or otherwise generally a bowl filled with rice and other ingredients that you mix together before you eat.

Took Bae Kee’s Bibimbap was a bowl that had rice topped with shredded cucumber, bean sprouts, carrot, shiitake mushroom, and sesame seed.  The Bibimbap is also served with a separate dish of “gochuchang” which is a chilli pepper paste that adds flavour.  However, notably the Bibimbap was missing a fried egg which I usually see in Bibimbaps.

The Bulgogi beef was soy flavoured barbecued sliced beef and was mildly tasty for a barbecued beef.  Together with the addition of the different ingredients, the combination makes this dish kind of nice to eat if not pretty simple.

The Bulgogi was (as it’s meant to be) dry even when adding the gochuchang sauce, and had a bit of a sweet and slightly oily overall feel.  I think this dish would have been much better with the optional extra fried egg which would have added to the taste and the texture of the overall mixed dish (and the Koreans I have asked seem to think the fried egg is a must).  However, this is Korean food cooked by Koreans and recommended by Koreans so who am I to question this?

Took Bae Kee also sells Dorset Bibimbaps which are meant to come in a heated stone bowl, but in actual fact the one I had came in a metallic one.  I recall my previous occasion of eating the Dorset Bibimbap to be good and I enjoyed that – but that one came with a fried egg.  Note to self – make sure it has a fried egg.

Soondoboo Jjeegae - $11

This dish was in the soup section of the menu and described as a hot and spicy soup with tofu and seasonal vegetables.  The seasonal vegetables included a lot of Chinese cabbage.

With noticeable chilli throughout, this dish was pretty spicy though if you can handle it and like things spicy I’m told it’s not bad.  The only thing is that you have to be careful when eating this dish as it can leave red marks on you and all over your lips.  This is also probably not a very summery dish.

Soy Beef Bulgogi  - $13

Remembering that Koreans can eat very spicy foods, I opted for the soy flavoured beef on a hot plate rather than the spicy chilli beef version.  Whilst this may have been the safer option, I am not convinced that the dish was the better tasting one.

The soy flavoured beef came on a sizzling plate and to me was a bit like a stir fry of beef with vegetables such as onion, carrot and cucumber.  The beef had a more sweet than salt flavour to it and was a pretty average beef dish for my liking.  However, that probably helps make the dish healthier and we are in a recommended casual Korean restaurant here.

As a main course, the beef was accompanied by a bowl of steamed rice in the “normal” stainless steel bowl.

The Korean side dishes served with main course meals

In summary, Took Bae Kee is a great little Korean restaurant that lets you have a taste of Korean food whilst dining with other Koreans.  If you like Korean food, I’m told this place is a must.

Points to note: Given its size and popularity, you may have to line up for a table during peak times.  You can also complete your Korean journey by going to the next door supermarket – they even have Korean ice creams.

Go for: Good Korean cuisine, recommended by Koreans.

Took Bae Kee Restaurant

Shop 6, 542 Hay Street

PERTH WA 6000

(08) 9225 4557

Trading Hours

Monday to Sunday – Lunch and dinner

La Galette De France, Nedlands

As much as the outline of my stomach says no, I love stuffing my face with sweet things - French pastries included.  So here I find myself at one of those great casual places for your French bakery and coffee shop/cafe needs.  La Galette De France has branches around Perth but on this occasion I made my way to the main one in Nedlands.

The atmosphere at La Galette De France is part bakery, part coffee shop/café.  With a handful of tables inside and another handful outside, La Galette De France can get pretty busy.  However, given it does coffee and cake or light meals, it’s reasonably high turnover so it’s not impossible to get a table.

Menu-wise, La Galette De France offers a range of mainly French bakery products from an awesome French stick, baguette and croissant, to sweet pastries.  However, L a Galette takes it even further with a range of cooked to order light meals such as sweet and savoury crepes, as well as coffee.

Complete Crepe - $9

This crepe was a folded parcel filled with ham, cheese, egg and the egg's raw egg yolk was neatly placed in the middle.

This crepe was light and the savoury flavours were subtle yet satisfying.  The raw egg centre was a little peculiar but perhaps it was their take on the tartare with the use of raw egg similar to other French cooking.  Definitely something different to what I'm used to.

Banana Delight Crepe - $9

This sweet crepe was layered with sliced banana, chocolate, and slices of roasted almonds.  It was also accompanied by vanilla ice cream.

I haven’t decided whether I classify this is a sweet meal or a dessert but it felt like it could be either.  The combination of the crepe with sweet flavours made for a nice indulgent crepe that was evenly coated with the banana, chocolate and almonds.  Perhaps too indulgent though as I felt like I ate too much by the end of it.

Lemon and Lime Macaroon, Chocolate and Cherry Macaroon - $2.80 each; Gingerbread Man - $4

These macaroons (yes it was spelt that way) tasted great and were nicely made with the biscuit portion having a soft, light texture that didn't crumble but was easy to bite through.  The macaroons were also filled with a layer of flavoured cream.

The lemon and lime macaroon had a sweetened taste of the sour lemon and lime running through it making it quite a tangy macaroon.

The chocolate and cherry macaroon had a type of crushed cherry filling and chocolate cream centre.

Gingerbread Man - $4

Yum.  I'm eating this as I type right now.

This Gingerbread Man was wrapped in plastic and came decorated with hundreds and thousands from waist below.

The Gingerbread Man had a soft, light, aerated, breakable and biteable texture, and a ginger wholemeal-like texture and taste.  At $4, not exactly cheap but it sure did taste good.  However, I still have issues with tearing a "man" up and eating him.

Cappuccino - $3.80

This cappuccino was pretty good.  The beans in this milky cappuccino only had a hint of bitterness.  Froth-wise, the foam was very smooth and dense.

In summary, La Galette De France can meet your French patisserie needs as well as offer a casual coffee shop with a distinct French based menu.  Maybe not the best for my not as flat as it should be stomach, but it does taste good.

Points to note:  Many people takeaway the bread, pastries and even coffee.  However, you can dine in for your coffee and crepe or pastry too in the casual coffee shop style seating arrangements.

Go for:  French pastries, crepes, and maybe some coffee to top it off.

La Galette De France

125b Broadway

NEDLANDS WA 6009

(08) 9386 5097

Lava Stonegrill, Mount Lawley

Molten lava rock.  Some things may make people run for their lives, stop whole fleets of aircraft, or even be a magnet for tourists (like me)... but cooking your own food on heated lava stone?  That's a different one and another thing to add to the reported and speculated uses of volcanic by-products.

Even with the So I made my way to, for the second time, have a meal cooked on this controversial lava stone.  It was Saturday night at 7pm.  I made my way into Lava Stonegrill for a feed.  There is a distinct and visible cloud of smoke, and a strong smell of barbecued meats in the air as just about every patron is grilling their food on lava stones.  I had been here before on a less busy night when the barbecue cloud wasn't so prominent.

Lava Stonegrill is set in an old house converted into a restaurant.  The furnishings are pretty simple and the seating quite ample given the size of the house.  There were also multiple air conditioners operating, but unsuccessfully (or perhaps not on the right mode to) removing smoke and smells from the restaurant.

The menu contained a range of lava stone grill main courses ranging from differing meats to seafood.  For those not wanting to cook their own main course, there were also a handful of dishes that were served cooked.  The menu also contains a small selection of beer, cider, wines by the glass and bottle, and dessert wines.

Salt and Pepper Squid - $14.90

The squid was cut up decoratively to make the squid seem lighter and more attractive.  The squid was lightly coated with a light coloured golden batter mixed with salt and pepper.  This was then served with an aioli sauce and a small portion of salad.

This dish was quite good and had the makings of a light yet well flavour-balanced salt and pepper squid.

Mediterranean Lamb - $29.90

Served on a lava stone that has seen better days, the lamb was marinated in some Mediterranean herbs and filled with a feta cheese based mix that was a bit orange in colour.

Accompanying the lamb was a Napolitano and chilli sauce.  The sauce had a bit of bite from the chilli, and though the Napolitano tomato based sauce was meant to blend in with the Mediterranean lamb I felt it didn't really match the lamb for my taste.  However, having its own marinade, the lamb was already flavoured without meaning additional sauce wasn’t necessary.

The main course was served with a coleslaw type of salad, and a couple of boiled potatoes.

 Reef and Beef - $34.90

This reef and beef dish had the makings of your normal reef and beef dish - steak with a couple of prawns, squid and a scallop.  The dish was served with two sauces - one which seemed to go with the salad more than anything, and the other creamy one to go with the seafood.

This dish was also served with potatoes, and salad.  However, the flavours of the beef and also the reef seemed pretty ordinary tasting.

In summary, Lava Stonegrill is a novel way of having your dinner - allowing you the flexibility to cook to your own liking.  However, the tastes to me seem a bit ordinary but it's that novelty factor you are paying for.  My biggest regret though was the intense smoky smells not only in the restaurant but all over me and my clothes long afterwards.

Points to note:  Yes, you have to cook your own food and pay for it but it is kind of a novelty. If you prefer your meat less cooked, you may have to move it to the small saucer or ask for another plate. On a busy night, expect to leave smelling like a barbecue.

Go for: The novelty of cooking your own food on lava stone.

Lava Stonegrill

155 Walcott Street
Mount Lawley WA 6050

(08) 9328 6669

Trading Hours

Monday to Saturday - 5pm to 11pm 

Bergen, Norway

A quick stop at some UNESCO world heritage listed sites.

Here in Bergen, Norway's second biggest city which incidentally has less than 300,000 people, not only is there the picturesque UNESCO world heritage listed Bryggen (where some Hanseatic buildings have been accurately restored to maintain the heritage of the city) but it is the gateway to the fjords and in particular the UNESCO world heritage listed Sognefjord - the longest fjord in Norway and the second longest in the world.

Foodwise, one point of significance in Bergen is its fish market - fishermen sell fish and related products here and many tourists converge here at this iconic tourist spot.  Given the importance of the fish market, it comes as no surprise that seafood is big in Bergen.  However, that doesn't mean you can't get other Norwegian food in this charismatic city.

Bryggeloftet & Stuene

This classic restaurant offers some traditional Norwegian fare at reasonable prices.  Located on Bryggen, this restaurant welcomes locals and tourists alike with many tourists dropping by for a taste of Norway that isn't intertwined with the produce from the fish market.

Bryggeloftet & Stuene (centre)

Inside Bryggeloftet & Stuene, the restaurant had some classic Norwegian charm, as well as a reasonable amount of space and seating for small and larger groups of diners.  The wait staff are friendly and talkative and happy to assist with describing dishes that are "foreign" to tourists.

The menu’s offerings had a range of Norwegian meals including steak, lamb, shellfish, and fish (such as Norwegian trout, cod, monkfish and halibut).  On the drinks side of things, the menu included wine from around the world with options from Italy, France, Argentina, Chile and even included Australia’s Jacob’s Creek (Chardonnay and Shiraz Cabernet at NOK74 per glass).

Reinsdyrfilet with Today’s Vegetables and red onion chutney and game sauce – NOK320

Reindeer is quite staple in Scandinavia.  Many Norwegian restaurants offer Reindeer and when cooked right, it can be melt in your mouth and an excellent alternative to a great steak.

I ordered this dish medium rare and it was tender as.  The dish came with mushrooms, and berries and tasted great for a meat (and a game meat at that) and veg dish.

The dish also came with a choice of Dauphinoise potatoes, fried or fried new potatoes (I'm not sure what the difference was) or boiled amandine.  I opted for the Dauphinoise which was a creamy potato dish with a mild garlic flavour.

At the fish market

Seafood roll – NOK90

Though there were different varieties and combinations available at the fish market, I opted for this particular roll.

The roll was a white bread roll that contained different fillings in different portions of the roll.  The fillings in this particular roll were shrimp, scampi, caviar, smoked salmon, crab mix, as well as overall lettuce, egg, and a small amount of cucumber and capsicum.  No sauce was present from what I could tell.

The shrimp and scampi were small sized and boiled, which is normal for this type of seafood in Norway.  Overall though, this roll tasted quite average and seemed to have next to no cooking or tasting skills required in its preparation.  As for the price, by our standards this was expensive but for Bergen standards this was fair.

...And finally, a few pictures from the picturesque and partially world heritage listed Bergen and Sognefjord.

Fish Market on Torget

Sognefjord

A Fjord off Sognefjord - the narrowest Fjord in Europe

Bryggen

Other

Art Gallery in Bergen

Lake in Bergen

Metal Artwork in Bergen

One of the towns off Sognefjord

Red Cabbage, South Perth

It has been a little while since the inaugural 2011 The West Australian Good Food Guide was released and I’m sure many of us have read it or even have our own views on the published ratings.  Personally, I bought the book on release and had a bit of a perusal and largely a lot of the ratings seemed consistent with my thoughts.

Going through the list of restaurants awarded one or two stars, a restaurant I had been putting off due to mixed comments from friends is Red Cabbage.  For those of you who don’t know, Red Cabbage was awarded two stars in the Good Food Guide.  I figured it was about time to bite the bullet and see for myself which side of my fence it sat on.

Heading into Red Cabbage, the restaurant décor was modern and classy.  The restaurant is dimly lit to create a mood, and the service is attentive and friendly.  The only minor issue is that whilst the restaurant has a view with balcony, the view is mainly overlooking an intersection – not really worth complaining about but just a little unfortunate for a fine dining restaurant.

View from Red Cabbage

Moving onto the food, Red Cabbage describes their cuisine as British with Australian influences.  Looking through the menu, the British food wasn’t just roast beef, fish and chips, or bangers and mash.  This was modern British, with Australian and other international influences meshed into modern cuisine.

On the drinks side of things, Red Cabbage serves everything from local and imported beer, wine, spirits and cocktail.  The emphasis of the wines is on Australian wineries with many boutique and less common brands featuring in the modest list.  However, for those of you looking for something less close to home, a small selection of international wines from Europe is also available by the bottle or glass.

Homemade bread with apple balsamic and olive oil - $5 (on the right: Amuse Bouche of Gazpacho)

The homemade bread was a round, smooth, bun shaped single serving of bread that was served warm.  The bread's texture was smooth and light but dense, and the taste was slightly sweet.  The apple balsamic and olive oil tasted great with it, with the apple balsamic having a slight sweetness that added to the bread's own sweet taste.

Margaret River venison, puy lentils, potato gnocchi, venison pastrami, shallot - $38

The tender pieces of venison were medium rare and delicious with the jus.  The potato gnocchi were well made, nicely formed, consistent and smooth without being floury, and pan fried finished – my only gripe was there wasn’t enough of them but then again this was not a gnocchi dish.

The remaining ingredients including the puy lentils and venison pastrami contributed to the overall taste of the dish rather than standing out and drawing too much away from the dish.

King snapper and spicy pork lasagne, king prawns, chilli caramel - $37

Lasagne these days is often not really just lasagne.  There seems to be a growing number of varieties as the Italian lasagne recipes meet modern day trends, techniques and fusion ingredients.  Take squid ink for example – squid ink has been used in pasta and noodles to colour pasta a more striking black colour.  I'm all for innovation and challenging traditional ways of doing things.

The lasagne was a black lasagne of king snapper and spicy pork – the king snapper being cooked right and the spicy pork along with the chilli caramel adding a bit of a bite to the dish but not excessively so to make this a “hot”dish.

The king prawns were deshelled with heads and tails intact and also cooked with a spicy flavour.  The chilli caramel, as expected, had both tastes of spicy chilli and sweet caramel infused giving this dish quite a distinct taste.

Chocolate decadance, white chocolate tortellini, mulled wine - $16

I was warned that the reason why mulled wine is served with this dessert is to mull the heavy and sweet chocolate flavours.  However, I think I'm pretty resilient to chocolate.

The chocolate dessert consisted of a chocolate shortcrust-like base, topped with the main component of the dessert – a type of chocolate mousse, and topped with chocolate ganache.  The chocolate dessert was then garnished with a white chocolate tortellini and on a separate dish was the port glass sized mulled wine.

The chocolate dessert was indeed decadent.  Even though, apart from the tortellini, the dessert didn’t seem to be anything surprising or out of the ordinary it was good for what it was.  The base was solid, didn’t crumble and yet easy to cut through, the mousse a good consistency and texture, and the ganache topping the dessert making it a rich chocolate dessert without going overboard.

The tortellini added a nice touch to the overall look of the otherwise simple looking dessert.  The tortellini itself was a biscuit-like tortellini with what seemed like a white chocolate cream.

To finish this dessert off, the mulled wine was warm and slightly sweet.  Sipping this between and at the end of the chocolate dessert did its intended purpose in a welcome way, washing away the strong chocolate tastes and reducing the sweetness that stayed on my tastebuds.

Chocolate profiteroles with coffee parfait - $15

This dessert was presented with a unique layout.  The centrepiece was a tall cone of coffee parfait, and was surrounded by three chocolate filled profiteroles and three more small dollops of chocolate garnished with mint.

The profiteroles, though made well, tasted a bit ordinary to me and the addition of a mild chocolate creamy centre added to it but didn’t blow me away.  I guess as described, they really were chocolate profiteroles so we got what we ordered.  The coffee parfait was a nice smooth parfait that was mildly coffee flavoured and also mild on the sugar which was quite satisfying.

In summary, Red Cabbage does deserve to sit in the fine dining category of Perth’s restaurants.  Even though it isn’t the most innovative around town, the food was of high quality, modern and had well matched flavours.

Points to note:  Red Cabbage is an excellent fine dining restaurant serving “top notch British food at its best, with obvious Australian influences”.  It’s recommended to book this restaurant in advance, especially for peak nights such as Saturday.

Go for: One of Perth’s better non-degustation fine dining restaurants serving British food which is modern.



Red Cabbage
49/15 Labouchere Rd
South Perth WA 6151
(08) 9367 5744
http://www.redcabbagefoodandwine.com.au

Trading Hours
Lunch - Wednesday to Friday
Dinner - Tuesday to Saturday